He first worked with Mendes who directed him at the RSC as Thersites in Troilus and Cressida, as Richard III and as a striking Ariel in The Tempest.

Mendes also directed him as Iago in Othello at the Royal National Theatre and in Mendes' farewell productions at the Donmar Warehouse, Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, in which he played the title role, and Twelfth Night, in which Beale played Malvolio.

In the spring of 2009 Beale and Mendes collaborated on The Winter's Tale and The Cherry Orchard, in which Russell Beale played Leontes and Lopakhin respectively, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, later transferring to the Old Vic Theatre.

Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan have been confirmed as the writers of the screenplay of the new James Bond film and will be working on a villain to rival some of the greats from the past 22 Bond movies.

THE FIVE MOST NOTORIOUS BOND VILLAINS

Ernst Stavro Blofeld (From Russia with Love, 1963, and Thunderball, 1965, and You Only Live Twice, 1967, and On Her Majesty's Secret Service, 1969, and Diamonds Are Forever, 1971, and For Your Eyes Only, 1981)

Chief of the global criminal organsation SPECTRE, Ernst Stavro Blofeld is 007’s nemesis, and the main villain of the Bond franchise. He has been played by four different actors (Eric Pohlmann, Donald Pleasance, Telly Savalas, and Charles Gray), and has become, with his white Persian cat, collarless grey jacket, and swivelling armchair, one of the most parodied villains in film history.

Jaws (The Spy Who Loved Me, 1977, and Moonraker, 1979) The 7'2" giant with the mouth of steel, who survived being crushed beneath an ancient Egyptian monument, being thrown from speeding trains and high clifftops.

Dr. No (Dr. No, 1962) The ultimate mad scientist was Bond’s first on-screen antagonist.. A nuclear physicist with powerful metallic claws for hands.

Francisco Scaramanga (The Man with the Golden Gun, 1974)

A secretive hitman who was the most expensive assassin in the world, needing only a single bullet to complete each job, he liked to kill his targets with a gold-plated single-shot pistol which could be disassembled into a pen, a lighter, cuff links and a cigarette case for easy disguise. Played with nonchalent arrogance by Christopher Lee, a cousin of Ian Fleming.

Oddjob (Goldfinger, 1964)

Oddjob was the beefy bodyguard of Auric Goldfinger, who combined genuine menace, physical strength, and a unique killing method in the form of a flying razor-rimmed bowler hat. Oddjob was played by Olympic silver-medallist weight-lifter Harold Sakata.